Smart Business Magazine, May 2019

22 Smart Business Cleveland May 2019 A future full of hope The MetroHealth System helps every patient who comes through its doors regardless of their ability to pay Its noble work that provides a unique challenge for those tasked with operating the organization like a business You have to be efficient and you have to add value to whats going on says Thomas M McDonald chairman emeritus at MetroHealth We will always be the safety net hospital If you cant go somewhere else well take you and well take good care of you The hospital system has to have the ability to pay for that quality care and that means we need to have profits We do We didnt always and it was scary A bolt of energy In 2008 MetroHealth was losing money and struggling to maintain strong leadership At one point in 2008 maybe 2009 I think we had one person in the C Suite who was not interim McDonald says So you ask me what the biggest challenge was It was to get the place stabilized and find someone to run the system a new CEO McDonald and his team thought they had found the answer before their candidate abruptly decided not to take the job A new search ensued and led the search committee to Akram Boutros M D FACHE If youve met Akram you know the force of his personality McDonald says Everybody rallies around him and the people he has hired are nothing short of world class Boutros stabilized MetroHealth in multiple ways In May 2017 946 million in hospital revenue bonds were sold to fund a new hospital slated to open in 2022 as a result no taxpayer money is being used on the project MetroHealth has served 300000 patients at more than 14 million visit to its hospitals and health centers in the past year Humble leadership By day McDonald is founder president and CEO of McDonald Partners a full service brokerage and investment advisory firm After guiding the search to find Boutros and spending six years as board chairman at MetroHealth he shifted to chairman emeritus in March As he looks back McDonald deflects any credit for his role in guiding the organization through the dark days With a new hospital on the way MetroHealth is poised for growth BROUGHT TO YOU IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE PILLAR FOUNDATION AND MEDICAL MUTUAL BY MARK SCOTT mscott@ sbnonline com BUILDING STRONGER COMMUNITIES THE METROHEALTH SYSTEM facebook com metrohealthCle @ metrohealthCLE www metrohealth org There were times wed sit in the boardroom and not know how we were going to get through the next month McDonald says Mark Moran who was the acting CEO at that time saved the hospital He did the stuff you have to do when youre in that situation It was tough and his job was tough But were still here Expanded service For the first time in its 181 year history The MetroHealth System is able to provide care for patients outside Cuyahoga County The opportunity was made possible by the passage of Ohio House Bill 111 in 2018 This allows us to operate in the nine contiguous counties to Cuyahoga and Summit counties which gives us the opportunity to grow says Chairman Emeritus Thomas M McDonald Weve taken advantage of that We will always be the safety net hospital If you cant go somewhere else well take you and well take good care of you THOMAS M McDONALD CHAIRMAN EMERITUS THE METROHEALTH SYSTEM

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